And number four down...

Phew - well book number four (of the maritime variety) has now been proof read - I know, I expect I will have missed something, but to the very best of my knowledge, it is done, dusted and gone to press, so if I HAVE missed it, it is too late now!

Hopefully, all things being equal, it will be ready in around four weeks time!

This means I can now concentrate on preparing for my first voyage with Oceania Cruises. The company has been on my ship radar for some years now, but as a luxury line, I was not expecting to be able to sail with them any time soon. However, having rounded up a cabin share, and discovered an interesting 12 night cruise to and from Southampton, we decided to go for it and book Nautica. As one of the old R ships of Renaissance Cruises, she is a sister to P&O Cruises' Adonia so I know roughly what the ship will be like regarding size and deck space.

Adonia, tendering at Portofino

Oceania advertise themselves as serving the best cuisine at sea, so I am very much looking forward to that experience - must pack the elasticated waistlines!

The ports include four totally new to me - Lerwick in the Shetlands, Edinburgh and Invergordon in Scotland, Portland in Dorset and Belfast in Northern Ireland. The others I am more than happy to return to - Alesund and Geiranger in Norway and Cork and Dublin in Eire.

So my next report will probably be after the cruise. Watch this space!