Day 6: Gibraltar, British Territory with Holland America
Day 6: Gibraltar, British Territory with Holland America
Holland America Africa Explorer Cruise – 49 Days from Rotterdam to Cape Town
Date: Thursday October 2, 2014
Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy; 30 C/87 F
In Port: 4:00 PM to 11:00 PM
All Aboard: 10:30 PM
Dress Code: Smart Casual
Location Information:
Gibraltar is a British Territory and residents have full British citizenship, but a separate political system and government from the United Kindgom. In Gibraltar they use the Gibraltar Pound as their currency – not the British Pound. Popular tourist activities include visiting St Michael’s Cave (limestone caves), the Moorish Castle that dates back to 1333, riding the Cable Car to the top of the rock, and surviving an encounter with the Barbary Macaques (very nasty monkeys – they scratch, bite and steal) at the Apes’ Den. Duty-free shopping in the vicinity of Casemates Square is abundant and liquor is very cheap.
WJ’s Day:
The ship’s clocks on Holland America ms Rotterdam had been set forward one hour, so we made sure to do it before going to bed last night. There will be quite a few time changes on this voyage, so we need to try to stay on track with them – although there are plenty of notices about them.
Most of the day was spent at sea as ms Rotterdam cruised towards Gibraltar, a British Territory. We were last in Gib in 2011 and did a tour of the main tourist spots then, so our plans are to have no plans and just wander the main street.
At 11:00 AM we attended another informative lecture “Explorations Speaker Series: World Heritage Sites” with Michael Tyropolis. Today he covered Lisbon – Jeronimos Monastery and Belem Tower; along with Granada and Cordoba in Spain. Then it was over to an art seminar – documentary on Francisco Goya – at noon in the Explorer’s Lounge.
As we approached Gibraltar (around 3:00 PM), Location Guide KK gave an interesting commentary about what we were viewing.
We left the ship as soon as possible (4:00 PM) and wandered into the main part of town. The walk from where ms Rotterdam docked to the High Street was an easy 20-minute stroll. Gibraltar has lots of duty-free shops and prices are very good on spirits, but it’s handy to know prices for wine as they didn’t seem much different than the shops in other ports.
While docked in Gibraltar we dined aboard the ship – there was a delicious Mediterranean Lido Barbecue around the Lido Pool from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. It was an excellent and varied selection of salads, antipasti, olives, steak, ribs, chicken, salmon, potatoes, vegetables, desserts and much more.
We made sure not to miss the only show in the Showroom at Sea at 9:30 PM – Traditional Flamenco Music and Dance by the Flamenco Agency Dance Company from Seville, Spain. It was absolutely wonderful!
Next – Malaga, Spain
