Overnight we have arrived back in Malta, from where we will fly home later today. It is an early start for us as we have to be out of our room by 8am. However our suitcases have already been taken and the next time we see them will be at Birmingham Airport. We enjoy a delicious breakfast before sitting on the promenade deck for a while, enjoying the Valletta sunshine. P&O certainly have things very organised for us, they use the theatre as a holding area for hand luggage so we do not have to keep that with us all day.
As we are not flying home until much later today, we leave the ship and immediately see a lady selling Malta City Sightseeing, Hop on, Hop off bus tickets. We buy 2 tickets and get seats right at the front of the open topper bus. We spend three hours on a most delightful tour of the north of the island, visiting many small villages and large, very touristy towns in the very hot sunshine. We were surprised at the cost of this €7.50 each, this must be the best value excursion of this trip. We return to the ship for lunch and to await our time for leaving.
The very efficient P&O machine works well and we are soon on our way to the airport, to learn we have a 35 minute delay, and no food or drinks will be available on the flight. But we come prepared as we have made our own sandwiches from the buffet on the ship. We cannot believe the third coincidence of our trip when, at Malta airport, we meet two friends from Kesgrave, the next door village to Martlesham Heath. They were returning from a holiday in Malta, but not on our flight.
It is 10pm before we land at Birmingham and have to collect our car from Airparks, with the prospect of a three hour drive home ahead of us. Martlesham Heath comes into very welcome sight at 2.30am and we fall into bed at 3am.
Summing up our trip, the cruise took us to lovely places that we have always wanted to visit - Rome and Pisa especially. The food on board ship was excellent, well on par with Cunard and all the other cruise lines we have used.
On the other hand, the original stateroom we were given was definitely not up to the standard we expect, and we were very disappointed with the time it took to get us moved to the beautiful state room that we should have had from the beginning. The ship itself is in great need of a complete update and renovate, if it wants to survive in such a competitive market.
Every day the sun shone, every day the sea was calm. What more do you need in life.
Well that's it for now, until our next adventure, where will take us?..................
