Malaga – Heading to Alhambra in Granada

Tick Tick Tick, this is another new port crossed off our list of places we have not visited before.

Beautiful first glimpses as we stepped upstairs on the open decks

As the sun rose, so did the city right in front of our eyes

Malaga is a lovely port city on the Costa Del Sol. It would be easy to spend the day in this beautiful Spanish seaside city, with its spectacular buildings, parks, and sandy beaches. And if there is a next time, that is exactly what we will do ….

But today we decided to travel further afield and visit historical Granada and the amazing Alhambra.

We booked another great tour with Spain Day Tours, and they married the six of us up into a group of about 18 people and gave us a large 40-seater bus to take us on the 2-hour drive to Granada.  Stopping after an hour at a roadside café/souvenir store for a comfort stop and coffee.

The countryside was amazingly green and the agriculture just seem to spread out over mountain after mountain.

Constant little reminders of home.....

Hello Granada

Once arriving in Granada our bus climbed the hilltop until we reached our goal for the day.

“The Alhambra is Granada’s – and Europe's – love letter to Moorish Culture. Set against the brooding Sierra Nevada peaks, this fortified palace started life as a walled citadel before becoming the opulent seat of Granada’s Nasrid emirs”. This is how it is described by Lonely Planet.

And they were not wrong, it does not take much imagination to envisage how grand the area would have been.  With spectacular views and the magnificent “Generalife” gardens, it is the Nazaries Palace that has pride of place.

Through the centuries and the ever-changing occupations, you can still see signs of Roman and Christian influences in the structures within the complex.

Alhambra

Generalife Gardens

Pictures from the Palace of Nazare

Sorry for all the photos.... well no I am not as this place is so beautiful, I couldn't choose

one of the many tessellated tiles that can be found on the walls and floors of the palace

so ornate

spectacular views from the palace

After touring Alhambra, we were taken down to the town centre of Granada where we were left to explore on our own. 

hmm... look what everyone rubs for luck!

Everyone vying for the only bits of shade waiting for the bus

Heading back to the ship we were not left much time to do any other exploring in Malaga and we will have to leave that for our next visit.

Back in Malaga

On our return, we found out that we would be spending another couple of hours in port whilst divers cleaned any parasites that attached themselves to the hull of our ship.  This was an issue last year and there were a few ships that missed ports as certain port authorities would not allow them to sail in their waters.

Divers at work

More Musings from around the Ship - Slot Pull

 We are not doing a lot of cruise critic activities this cruise but one tried and true favourite is the Slot Pull...

Sabina is doing a great job in running this activity for us... We have always walked away with something...  mostly less than what we have invested, but it has been a good time getting there...

My sister was the big winner on this particular day

More Musings from around the Ship – Culinary Show Mark II

We had a second culinary show just before we reached Dover.  What was nice about this one was they used the ending for us to congratulate the staff both in front, and behind the scenes for their fabulous work and commitment to making our trip as enjoyable as possible.

Just like the old Bombe Alaska parade, they brought a small group of team members out that represent all 185 crew that work in food and beverage.  Hector the head waiter, can often be heard belting out a song or two in the horizon court at breakfast, ended the show with a fantastic rendition of “Time to Say Goodbye”

More Musings from around the Ship – Entertainment

 I would have to say the entertainment has been very good.  A lot of Tribute shows of music we all enjoy. Some comedians that were a little hit and miss, Instrumentalists, illusionists, and more….

Now some of these performers I know their names and others I have forgotten...

Talia Alexis is a great job as Tina Turner

Tribute to Johnny Cash (I think, it was a while ago)

Talia as herself... another fabulous concert

Chris Ritchie as Neil Diamond

These two ladies took the show to an embarrassing but funny new level, as yes they were making contact

Funny mind reader and illusionist

Garry gave him a hand

Only John and Paul

Great Irish instrumentalist Adam Barry

Fantastic Adele tribute show

Or was this guy the Johnny Cash tribute

Bringing us a little broadway

This fellow has been on our past cruises

This fellow was a jack of all trades, singer, producer, actor... constantly reminding us of his achievements... but he was very good...

More Musings Around the ship – Meet & Greets

Since we had our first Cruise Critic Meet & Greet, we have had two more, one after Dubai and the other after Dover. 

As I wasn’t expecting a lot of people after our Dubai one, I didn’t ask the officers to come, but it was so nice to see that they turned up anyway….

At this Meet and Greet we passed the microphone around and everyone introduced themselves

And once again they were there in full force for our Dover Meet and Greet.  The staff have been fabulous on this trip and very accommodating. 

Aaron the Cruise Director is one of the best we have had. As we have lost our Entertainment Director Kelvin in Dover and Princess could not get a replacement for him, Aaron has really stepped up and taken on both roles.  

More Musings Around the ship – Fruit Carving

The chefs from the kitchen do a great job when it comes to fruit carving.  I remember hearing once that the art of carving started with fruit before progressing on to wood…  Our team created some wonderful displays…  A few of these demonstrations have been repeated at each sector, but always a pleasure to attend. 

More Musings Around the ship – Margarita anyone

You know your husband loves you when he volunteers during a Margarita demonstration just so he can get a free cocktail!

More Musings Around the ship – Death by Chocolate

Sea days are great for demonstrations in the atrium, and as long as they don’t clash with other activities we like to go along.

This one was particularly yummy when our Executive Pastry Chef does a chocolate show…  Even more particularly so when you sit in the front row and score one of the delicious chocolate ganache and berry deserts….

More Musings Around the ship - Bingo

Bingo is on every sea day… and it just seems to get dearer and dearer every time we are on board.  The cheapest combination is $30 which I think only gives you a set of 3 games for each round of bingo.  There are so many combo’s that even I can’t remember them all… The dearest is the set with the use of an ipad to play…  hence all you have to do is sit there and wait for it to ding when you have won the pot.

Generally, I only play on the final day when the jackpot has to be won.  On this particular day, I played because the night before they gave me a couple of free tickets when we walked pass the casino.  Carry, my sister decided to join me when she heard I was playing… 

Well lo and behold, she won one of the rounds and walked away with $150…. At least the marketing worked for somebody.