Me, Joyce, John, Anne and Gerry.

Ice Carvings at The Gala Buffet.

At anchor in Villefranche, France.

The colourful harbour at Villefranche.

Itinerary		= ports at anchor
Friday 5th August	-	Fly to Civitavecchia, Italy & embark Galaxy
Saturday	-	Naples, Italy
Sunday	-	at sea
Monday	-	Mykonos
Tuesday	-	Santorini
Wednesday	-	at sea
Thursday	-	Messina, Sicily
Friday	-	at sea
Saturday	-	Villefranche, France
Sunday	-	Genoa, Italy
Monday 15th August	-	Civitavecchia, Italy disembark & fly to UK

This was our "free" cruise in compensation for having lost the holiday to Hawaii in March, because of Infinity's propulsion-pod troubles. However, the difficulties of re-arranging annual holidays coupled with the limited choice of 10-day itineraries within the next 12 months meant that we had little choice but to settle for this one and, to be honest, I was not overly excited about it.

With Celebrity, we had only ever travelled on Zenith or Horizon before, which were a good deal smaller. The size of Galaxy, at nearly 78,000 tons, means that she has better facilities and is more spacious for about 1,900 passengers.

Cova Cafe Bar		The Lady Anne		Rendezvous Square		Grand Foyer		Orion Restaurant

Oasis Cafe & Grill		Me & Joyce		Savoy Night Club		Anne & Joyce		Our Stewards: Renaldo, Belinda & Gregor

In fact, it turned out to be a lovely holiday; the weather was brilliant, our ports and tours delightful and we had a really good time. I even taught Joyce and Anne the "Dolly Walk" down the steps of the Savoy Night Club! We enjoyed excellent food and service in the Restaurant where I discovered "Montrachet Cheese & Potato Gratin" - which had me in raptures, it was so delicious! As for the gorgeous Gregor, who while taking your order, would look directly into your eyes in a manner both cheeky and winning, well he was delicious too! One evening, demonstrating a wicked sense of humour and knowing how Anne & I had been chastising Joyce for the use of salt, he hid the salt cellar behind the curtain and delighted in then having to admit what he had done!

Pompeii & The Amalfi Coast
No-one can fail to be amazed by the beauty of the Amalfi coast, with its houses clinging to precipitous cliffs cut with hairpin-bend roads. And a visit to Naples isn't complete unless you have seen Pompeii - even if it is uncomfortably hot, enormous and exposed.

The Amalfi Coast		The Amalfi Coast		St Andrews Cathedral, Amalfi		Pompeii		Pompeii

Mykonos
We were supposed to visit Santorini the following day but a "computer glitch" prevented the Captain from starting the engines! So we were stranded while they flew a software engineer over from another ship to sort it out. I can think of worse places to be stranded - Joyce and Anne were spotted having liqueur pancakes at 11am in a shoreside cafe!

Little Venice		The Windmills		Panagia Paraportiani		Sleepy alleys		Stranded in Mykonos

Taormina (Sicily) & Eze (nr Villefranche, France)
Taormina is a short trip from Messina and is a very popular (if crowded) tourist trap but the Roman ruins are worth seeing and if you are prepared to wander off down the picturesque side-alleys, you can still discover peace and quiet. If it's not too hazy, you can get a good view of Mt Etna too.

Secret Taormina		Mt Etna from Taormina		Roman Taormina		Eze & Cap Ferrat		Medieval Eze

Anchoring in the bay of Villefranche on the French Cote d'Azur, we travelled along the lower Corniche to the medieval village of Eze, perched like an Eagle's nest on a rocky cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. Again, very popular with the tourists but the hot climb up the narrow streets helps sort them out! It's well worth the effort to get to the top and only the fit and serious get there!

Cruise Mileage: 2,206 nautical miles
Total Mileage to date: 99,938 n miles