Blackbeard gets his sea legs

While Captain Greybeard may well be a hardened cruise expert, who can provide with help and advice and the latest updates in goings-on at sea, what you haven’t had on this blog is the wide-eyed exploits of a cruise virgin.
Hi, my name is Russell. I’m 27 and I have never cruised before. For the next week I will be at sea and at various ports of call as I travel along the coast of Spain and Portugal.
I have always assumed that cruising is for the older generation, and one of the only nuggets of information I had prior to joining the Spirit of Adventure was that the average age of those on board was 62. That may be so this week, but I have now discovered that as the ship heads further away from the UK, through the Mediterranean and on towards the Middle East and Asia, a younger crowd of passengers will be flying out.
Not that any of that makes any difference for me this week. As I have always secretly fancied myself as being slightly old before my time , maybe now is the perfect opportunity to see if I can really fit in. A week of bridge and shuffleboard in between excursions and if they accept me as one of their own then great, a whole new world of early bird specials and carpet bowls will be open up for me. If not, I can depart the ship knowing that I gave it my best shot and my time will eventually come.
As for the ship itself, the elder statesman Captain Greybeard has informed me that it is not your average cruise liner. Really? Is it a ship? Yes. Does it carry passengers? Yes. Does it travel from port to port? Yes. Are there excursions at every port? Yes. It seems to tick all the boxes.
I think he must have been referring to its size. An estate agent might describe it as compact or bijou. It has all the facilities you would expect, at least all the ones I was expecting, but it is all easily navigable and it’s impossible to get lost on board. A perfect way to start off and if all goes well this week I can confidently move onwards and upwards in size later.
More importantly though the size of Spirit of Adventure means that it can dock right in the heart of cities that larger ships cannot get to. Something we will be taking advantage of later on this week when we sail into the centre of Seville , which is something no other cruise ship can do.
As for on-board entertainment, I have just watched the ship’s very own live version of Can’t Cook Won’t Cook, complete with celebrity chef Kevin Woodford. Coming up in a few days time, Ready Steady Cook, and they are looking for volunteers. Any suggestions as to what to include in my shopping bag? Let me know. In the meantime, must dash – it’s time for lunch.