We’ve recently added another string to our ‘bow’ of cruise activities by taking advantage of the ship’s croquet facility. The marvellous semi covered area on the games deck is also home to a bowling green but we’ve yet to find time to partake of that discipline.
Doug firstly gets some advice from a seasoned pro ………
….. and is then set free to find his feet.
Dinner on board each evening is a wonderful experience and, although we have a table for two (perhaps P&O warned Cunard of us and suggested we’d be better separated from the other guests!), the next table for two has Vanessa and Lance on it and Cunard’s tactics seem to have backfired on them as the four of us have the most tremendous ‘hoot’ for a couple of hours each evening!
We reached Malaga on Wednesday morning and took a walk along the seafront this time as we’d been to the old part of the city earlier in the year.
Before returning to the ship we had a quite few minutes at a cafe next to the Plaza de Toros.
Walking back home we were able to get a good view of “Elizabeth” proudly baring her lifeboats during a routine safety drill by the ship’s company.
Thursday morning saw us docked nice and early at Gibraltar and, as we were scheduled to leave at 1:30 in the afternoon, we had a limited time to do the usual ‘liquid’ shopping.
The main street in Gibraltar is so very typical of many English towns - except for a lot of the prices of course which are tax free!
Other parts of the town are very Mediterranean with palms and orange trees.
It was nice of them to have the “Big Guns” out for us.
We bumped into Lance and Vanessa and had a quick but riotous drink with them before posing for this pic outside the Government Buildings …….
….. and just to rub it in a bit – look at these fuel prices!
We make no apology for this next sequence of photos as we were privy to a fairly rare event as we left harbour at 1:30 ……..
……… “Queen Victoria”, the sister ship to "Queen Elizabeth”, came into Gibraltar to take our place at the cruise liner berth.
This was “hair standing up on the back of your neck stuff” as the ships got closer and closer!
As we left our berth, with the iconic mass of ‘The Rock’ in the background …….
…….”Victoria” came around on our port side ………
……. and as the these two fabulous ships passed side by side they started sounding their hooters, firstly alternately and then together! It was a thrilling and awesome sound and it was so very special to be witness to this occasion. 
Finally “Victoria” slipped quietly into the (still warm) berth that we’d just vacated - it must be near on a record turn round!
…… and a final a pic of us two with “Gib” behind us. It’s been a couple of quick day visits to Malaga and Gibraltar but it’s been great fun and the weather’s been good enough for a bit of sunbathing on deck as well. Tomorrow we’ll be waking up in Lisbon with a bit of luck as we now head closer to Southampton.
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