We flew to Marseille from Bordeaux this time, getting the bus at Marseille to the centre.
We had a nice morning walking around the harbour, it's lovely! Marseille is pretty moody at night though, we were honestly a bit scared (well I was, so the kids caught the vibe)
We found the fish market, the fish were still alive, barely. The kids were really interested in it. This is a traditional way of buying fresh fish, it was pretty popular.
We (finally) found the cruise terminal... that was a right pain in the backside! Costa if you are reading, you need to make it clear that the cruise terminal is in fact, NOT in Marseille centre, nor is it walkable... even from the furthest tram point. We got the tram out of town, then began to walk directly towards a dual carriageway with no pedestrian pavements or places to walk. We had to then wait for a bus (thank Goddess I speak French) and get off later and THEN walk for half an hour with an enormous family suitcase too.. ugh! It's worth noting if this is ever you... get a taxi to this cruise terminal, it will be worth your 20 euros unless you have no kids with you and you travel only with a backpack!
Nethertheless, the kids were super excited! Checking out all the massive cruise ships to see which one was ours... Costa Pacifica...
I found this holiday deal on Fly4Free, it was 860 euros for three of us, full board. Obviously it was an inside cabin but honestly, it made no difference, we were as comfortable as anywhere else.
How I like to imagine Miles always looks.....
When Miles' real personality shines through..... :D
He is a lovely, happy loon!
I wanna get on the cruise ship first, no me.... no me.... no me! Then they realised that they had to queue like everyone else.
The ship was amazing....
First of all we walked all over the ship, we took it all in, enjoyed the feelings...
The worst thing about the whole cruise was this.. the kid's club 'meet Peppa Pig' event. Miles' face says it all haha
I didn't take him to any others. He is far too grown up for that kind of thing now ;)
Spectacular sunsets... nothing to block the view.
We went for the posh dinner one night, you have to pay a small supplement and all the drinks are payable too. (Expensive!)
Miles doing his usual trick with a couple of wafers... ;)
The desserts were fine!
We ate in the buffet every night after that, the kids said they preferred being able to choose what they liked to eat after seeing it first, not from a menu! Fair enough!
One of the highlights of a cruise is that the nightly entertainment is included and it's really good! We were there almost every night.
We stopped at Malaga first, I held Miles up to pluck an orange out of a tree like this. It was really really sour!
We found a real pirate ship with hammocks and rigging, the lot! We paid a little fee (for a charity) and went a-board!
It was the day of the Malaga Marathon so I didn't get to take the boys to the old fort as planned, it was too busy. We checked out the marina, looked at some Spanish stalls and enjoyed some bands playing, then the boys chose some sunglasses! Caden did his Agent from the Matrix impression! Shame about the crocs!
Feeling excited as the boat left Malaga harbour, we chatted to some Dutch people at the top deck as we were escorted by tug boat back out into the open sea... next stop Tenerife.
Miles had his 7th birthday on board. I gave them both a bunch of credit to enjoy in the arcade. They LOVED air hockey!
Then Miles had a birthday Mocktail! Me too!
Next stop Tenerife!
Caden did lots of drawing while we were on board. He really did some great pieces. When he has time on his hands he produces creative work!
Miles bought some mandalas from Tenerife and coloured them in really neatly!
Leaving Tenerife past some huge industrial shops was pretty surreal. They are so big and the ship you are on is so big that the constant slow motion from one to the other is eerie and disconcerting! It's just massive
Dramatic sky as we left the Canary Islands for Barbados.
Then it was sun, sun, sun and reading and more sun! I was the happiest Mum!
We all took a big chill pill, we relaxed, drew, read, talked, ate, drank (water, too hot and I never drink alcohol when I travel alone with the boys), slept, sunbathed, swam.... it was bliss! Much needed after what had been a very stressful year!
Caden did a fantastic drawing in pastels of the local boulangerie in Chabanais, from memory.
And a farmer digging.
The highlight for the boys was this water play area. They spent hours in here...
Our room was air conditioned and comfortable. Perfect!
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