Independent traveller goes on a cruise

If I were to describe my travel style it would be an (very) independent traveller. I book my own flights, research public transport and hotels. Highlight on maps walking routes and the bars and restaurants I fancy based on pre travel research. If I'm honest when I've come across a 'cruiser' on my travels I've always given them a wide berth. Doing things yourself has an element of 'it means more'.

I've spent the last 30 years of extreme travel hopping from city to city, country to country, often exhausting, always exhilarating, embracing local culture as much as possible.

Things are different these days, I've got a wife and 2 year old. A couple of months back we went on an adventure holiday to Austria (Vienna and Salzburg), Czechia (Brno), Slovakia (Bratislava) and Germany(Munich) in under 2 weeks. This was already holiday style 2.0 as the budget hotels are now replaced by 4* hotels and no late night parties. It was exhausting, we had too much luggage, add to that a pushchair and a baby that rarely fancied sitting in it. Those sorts of holidays are now on hold.

I like the idea of seeing new places, climbing a new tower, drinking the local brew, walking for miles to replicate a picture of a 'not to be missed' viewspot everyday. The idea of early morning mobilization of the family and luggage to catch a bus to the train station has taken the edge of that sort of holiday (for the time being).

How about a cruise I thought, that'd be perfect, you put your luggage in your room and the boat does the moving from city to city whilst you sleep. Your food and 'entertainment' catered for. This was quite a paradox in my thoughts.

Looking at package holidays (the last one I did was an 18-30 trip to Spain or Greece - i don't remember much other than intense noise, alcohol and sunburn - when I had just reached the lower end of the age range). I found cruises to be expensive (very expensive). However there is value to be had looking at 'cruise only' options. That's what we did. We bookended the cruise with a 2 night stay in Bologna at the start (via a cheap Ryanair flight) and a 1 night in Barcelona (returning via EasyJet) - definitely the way to do it. We also got to experience my old travel style before and after the cruise.

Pre cruise I signed up to a Facebook page dedicated to the ship we were going on for those dates. The people posting on there weren't the people I usual mix with, in fact I'd highlighted a few that might get tossed overboard if I'd 'had a few'.

The cruise we bought had an additional tip charge of $16 per person per day, which mid cruise I managed to get them to waive Sienna's tips.

Post booking I was bombarded with emails, drinks package, photo package, internet package, tours etc it really was relentless. The only thing I had an interest in was the drinks package as I'd heard alcohol was eye wateringly expensive on the ship. The cheapest the alcohol package was advertised at was $65 per person per day, I'd need to get for my wife also even though she doesn't drink. So I gave it the swerve (not before trying to negotiate a drinks package for one day for one person so I could have a mental one - this was declined).

I opted for no packages but did read you could takes a bottle of wine on each, so in Bologna I purchased a bottle of Borolo and Amarone, red wine of such quality (and strength) would retail at $100+ on the ship. There was supposed to be a corkage charge but the Indian barman whom I talked cricket with was more than accommodating in doing the honours for free.

Off the boat when we stopped for a rest or lunch I would sample the local brew.

We stayed in the Mercure in Bologna (room only) and the price per day of the cruise (meals, travel, tips and 'entertainment' included) was only a fraction more per day. Definitely good value which is always important.

The buffet restaurant on the boat was plentiful and the a la carte restaurants was excellent (however sometimes the food wasn't piping hot). We never tried any of the 'pay more' restaurants and in my opinion never needed to.

We got off the boat everyday (except a day at sea) . Destinations included some new places for me, Messina on Sicily (not much to right home about), Naples (loved it here - but fancied longer than a day trip) and Marseille. I'd planned self tour to go into Rome one day, but the Italian train and motorway strike ruled that out so had to stay in a fairly unimpressive Civitavecchia where the boat had docked. The following day I'd planned Florence and Pisa by train, however we were late in getting moving, and a series of sliding door near misses on connections of buses and trains ruled out Florence and we managed to just get in Pisa just as the heavens opened.

The tours the ship were offering would definitely have made things easier, but easier isn't better in my book. And at the prices they were charging this option was completely ruled out.

My opinion on the days off the boat is, if a city is worth visiting, it's worth spending more than a few hours in, if it's not worth visiting, well it's not worth visiting.

Would I cruise again, you know maybe I would (especially if I could find good value), my wife is less enthusiastic as she still found it tiring and rushed when we left the ship and having a curfew of when the boat sailed was always in her mind. 

It's safe to say our favourite 3 days of the 10 day holiday were Bologna, Venice and Barcelona which perhaps not coincidentally were the 3 days before and after the cruise. So the search for the perfect family holiday continues.

3 hectic days in Malta

When we applied for Thuy (my wife) to get a Schengen visa for our recent holiday to Madeira (Portugal) we asked for a multi entry 2 month visa, what we got was a single entry valid for 2 weeks. So that meant in my time off over Christmas I was to become a solo traveler again for 4 nights (3 days) in Malta.

It was all a bit rushed the planning, but I decided to stay in St Julian's, however in hindsight this was a mistake (for my needs) as the bars around the hotel were either luxury cocktail bars or very cheap, dirty and grim bars knocking out shots by the hundreds. I kid you not, 400 shots for €130 at one place.

St Julian's was a decent base for getting around on the buses, which was the purpose of the trip.

Before marriage and child I used to 'power tick' my way around countries and cities, this trip was to see if I'd not lost my touch. I was to cram as much in as possible for the 3 days.

Day 1 Valetta, Marsaxlokk and Vittoriosa

First job was to buy a bus ticket card. €15 for 12 x 2 hour journeys was just the job.

I got the bus to Valletta (capital city) which broke down mid journey, after switching to the next bus it was an uneventful journey. The bus route followed the sea so it was a beautiful ride and gave me a great impression of Malta.

Valletta was a lot bigger than I thought, a very lovely city, oodles of churches, small alleys and opportunities for great photo spots. Really nice city.

After a 2-3 hour power march of the city , up and down several times I'd worked up an appetite for lunch. Checked out my lonely planet book, and caught a bus to the eastern coast of the island to Marsaxlokk, a fishing village with plenty of restaurants serving up today's catch with views of the bay. I had Sea Bream, I wasn't overly impressed with the service or the food, perhaps I chose the wrong restaurant!

I wanted to look around a small city called Vittoriosa which overlooked Valletta for sunset cocktails. To get to Vittoriosa it required 2 buses with the change in 'the middle of nowhere'. Top tip, use the Tallinga bus app, Google several times had out of date advice. The transfer was relatively smooth.

Once again Vittoriosa was a lovely picture postcard place, with cracking views and a relaxed atmosphere. Some of the super-yacht's were mightily impressive...one day maybe…

I'd read that Vittoriosa was not frequently visited by tourists and had some lovely locals wine bars tucked away in the city's alleys. They must have been well hidden, as I never found any!

So it was back to Valletta by bus in search of some nightlife - let me be clear when I say nightlife I was after a small locals bar. I found one which was great, had a pint and thought I'd catch the bus near my hotel and get something similar within walking distance.

As mentioned earlier, finding a place that met my requirements was tricky. I eventually found a tiny bar with locals merrily singing, falling and at times almost coming to blows with eachother as they enthusiastically watch the football on TV. What a day, what a start to the trip.

Day 2 Mdina and Valetta Boat Trip

After the long day yesterday I was surprisingly fresh and awake for breakfast at 7am and was soon on the road headed towards Mdina. I got there early, much earlier than the tour groups and this gave me deserted alleys in the old fortified city.

Mdina was lovely to stroll around, I did the Lonely Planet guided walk… twice, before heading off on my own steam exploring by myself. There were great panoramic views of Malta, my book said on a clear day you can see Mount Etna in Italy, it was a clear day, perhaps a little hazy, so alas none of Italy was in view (hardly surprising as it is over 200km away).

Next up was the very nearby (100m) city of Rabat. I made my way to the main square and fancied a coffee. There were lots of cafes each knocking out coffees at the reasonable price of €2.2-2.5. However I spotted Rabat Ajax Sports bar and grill, a real locals place where the coffee was €0.50 and the tables offered prime spots in the sun facing the cathedral.

The radio station had set up in the square playing decent tunes. It was nice to relax, catch up on the internet, and slow down. I had another coffee.

Wondering what to do next I saw a city about 3-4 km away which overlooked the Mdina so I walked there. The city Mtarfa didn't even get a mention in the Lonely Planet, the views were nice, the clock tower ok. The only bar/café in town I'd targeted lunch in was shut, so I got the bus back to Valletta.

I didn't go into the capital city, instead I changed buses and went to Salima...well I thought I did. I boarded the bus, checked on Google the route and it showed me it went inland rather than by the coast. I was later to find that Google was wrong. So at the earliest opportunity I got off and decided to walk the long walk around the coast line, very nice it was too.

The purpose of going to Silema was to check out the ferry tours. I either fancied the harbor tour, or the tour to Gozo for the next day, or both.

Chatting with the many tour operators I felt the Gozo Comino tour would not be for me as it was doable by bus and public ferry. With that in mind I started negotiations on the price of the harbor cruise. All of them were a flat €16 for the 90 minute cruise. I had one guy offering me a discount for €13 (the child's price). Seeing the boat was about to depart and had hardly any passengers on it, I went directly to the boat and offered €10 which was accepted.

The tour itself was 'ok' I'd seen a lot of what was to see by foot the previous day. But it was nice to sit back and relax listening to the fairly informative speakers. Worth a tenner any day. It was warm and sunny when I got on the boat, but by the end the sun had dropped as had the temperatures. I got the bus back to my hotel, grabbed my jeans and jumper and headed back to Valletta for a big night out.

I found a locals bar, a band was due to fire up shortly but 1 pint of Cisk knocked me sideways and I was back on the bus for a very early night, very tired.

Day 3 Gozo

The plan was, early start, bus to ferry, get there before the masses. I slept in, I hadn't slept well since I got here, finally nodded off at 5am and woke at 08:45. A quick shower and breakfast later I was on the road again on the bus to the ferry terminal. When I got there I saw the price I paid for the sleep in. A massive queue snaked outside the ferry terminal and it was about an hour and 3 ferries of waiting. Must be really busy in the summer.

Gozo is Malta's greener and lusher little sibling, this was evident on my trip into the capital Victoria (old name Rabat) by bus. Approaching the city it was easy to spot the main attraction, the large castle lurking over the city. This was to be my first port of call.

Something that wasn't mentioned in my Lonely Planet was the air raid shelters/tunnels. It was really good to explore down these, free also, that good I even left a €1 donation. The castle offered great views of Gozo. I enjoyed my time up there, I did wish I had woken early before the 'tourists' (before you think it yes I know I'm one of them) arrived.

After the castle, I explored Victoria city. I first came across a square with plenty of cafes, but old and traditional were kitted out for tourists, so I went for a wander down some small alleys and got comprehensively lost! When I finally found civilization again, I came across another church in another square. This was more like it. I had a couple of beers with the locals in a couple of very local bars. Just my cup of tea.

I then went to the bus station to see where I could get a bus to. The beach resort of Marsalforn had a bus heading in 10 minutes. The Lonely Planet didn't give it a great review so I hung on a further 10 minutes for the bus to Ramla Beach. The bus dropped me some 10 minute walk from the beach, I'd read that there were a couple of each restaurants, by now I was hungry and thought it would be nice to eat by the sea. Both restaurants were closed and there was little to do.

The next bus was ages off, not sure what to do I set about a hike up the hill away from the beach heading along the bus route to see how far I could get....

...Very far is it turned out. A decent hike lead me to Nadur where I could grab a beer and wait for the next bus to the ferry terminal where as I arrived back in Malta the sunset was gorgeous.

Last night in Malta, did I go large and party all night, not really, I had some nice (massive) food, followed by a long walk along the bay contemplating which bar to go in, ended up going in none.

Day 4

There was just about enough time in the morning to check out the super rich harbour of Portomaso, before heading back to the airport to use the last of my €15 worth of bus tickets purchased.

What a trip Malta was. Really I could and should have done the same itinerary in a week at a much more relaxed pace, but where is the fun in that?