Gibraltar, United Kingdom

Monday, April 1, 2024

Today was the fourth day of our Princess cruise. We woke up this morning docked in the United Kingdom territory of Gibraltar situated between the continents of Europe and Africa. Gibraltar is the only entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean and has been a British colony since 1704.

After two rather windy days on the ship, the sun was shining in Gibraltar this morning, and there was a buzz on board as passengers prepared to go outside and explore. Andi and I felt differently; Gibraltar wasn’t of particular interest to us, so we decided to workout in the ship’s gym this morning and have a nice breakfast in the Eatery when it wasn’t so crowded. Tory and I also stopped at the International Cafe to get iced coffees. I just realized these are included in our premier drinks package. “Can I have an iced latte?” Tory asked the man working behind the counter. “I’ll make you whatever you want,” he responded.

Around 10:00am, we made our way into Gibraltar. Getting off the ship was so easy; we simply scanned our medallion badges at the exit and walked right off the ship. From the port, Andi, Tory, Aden, and I walked about 20 minutes into the center of Gibraltar.

It’s such a strange feeling to be in a new place without traveling there. Well, I suppose we did travel to Gibraltar on the ship overnight, but it was hard to tell we were on the move without looking out the window. We were definitely in a British territory! There were red telephone booths, restaurant signs advertising fish & chips, and the pound is the accepted form of currency. Most people speak English, but we also heard lots of Spanish being spoken as Spain’s border is only 20 minutes away.

The number one thing to do in Gibraltar is to take a cable car up to the “Top of the Rock” to see panoramic views of Europe on one side, Africa on the other, and the confluence of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. In addition, Europe’s only wild monkey population of barbary apes, lives at the top in a nature preserve. There’s also a skywalk, St. Michael’s Cave, and World War II Tunnels to visit for an additional ticket price.

As we approached the cable car station, we saw a huge line of tourists queued outside. The line weaved throughout the inside of the building as well, and didn’t seem to be moving along very quickly.

An alternative option was to take a taxi to the Top of the Rock, but it would cost €40/per person including admission to the nature reserve. Neither Andi and I were very excited about seeing the viewpoint for that price. We decided to walk to the botanical gardens instead.

I felt guilty not seeing Gibraltar properly, but on the other hand, I didn’t really care if we missed it. We heard the troop of barbary apes are quite aggressive with tourists, stealing food out of peoples’ bags and even biting others, so Tory had been nervous about going up there anyway. Aden suggested more than once that we should just go back to the cruise to spend the day. Eventually, Andi and I agreed. Why were we walking around Gibraltar when we could be sitting by the pool on the ship? It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon with sunny skies and an air temperature of 65 degrees.

Andi navigated the four of us back to the cruise terminal. In all, we walked about 5 miles around the city of Gibraltar so our visit hadn’t been completely for nothing. We walked past the marina and saw lots of locals out walking their dogs or playing with their kids at the playground. Gibraltar is a city of about 30,000 people and it wasn't touristy at all. In fact, it felt the only visitors here were from the Sun Princess.

Back on the ship, we changed into our swimming suits and made our way to the pool area on Deck 17. There were hardly any other guests on board which was awesome! Andi, Tory, and I ordered tacos and nachos from the Lido Tacos station, and Aden ordered a hot dog, a brat, and fries from Lido Burgers. I also picked up a piece of pizza from the Lido Pizza station just to try it, though we’ll all fairly “pizza’d out” after spending two weeks in Italy.

Aden swam in the pool the rest of the afternoon with new friends he made, and Tory and I lounged on the pool deck reading books and soaking up the sun. Andi decided to go back to our stateroom to work for a while. After adventuring so hard the past two months, it felt amazing to relax in the sunshine and enjoy all the amenities of the ship for the afternoon.

There’s a Cones & Coffee station on Deck 17 offering ice cream cones, slushies, and decadent sundaes. Tory’s eyes lit up when the lady behind the counter made a sundae for her. She ordered the “Godfather” which had scoops of vanilla ice cream, brownie chunks, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, marshmallows, M&M’s, a Kit Kat bar, and a sucker on top — wow!

Around 5:00pm, Aden, Tory, and I returned to our stateroom to clean up for dinner. We decided to eat at the Americana Diner again on Deck 8. We all really loved the food there & it’s quieter than some of the other restaurants.

Tory and Aden both love the root beer floats and the strawberry milkshakes. When everything’s free, it’s hard to say no to letting them have both! Tory and I shared a plate of nachos, and Andi and Aden shared the BBQ wings. For our entrees, Andi and I both got the sticky pork ribs and I ordered the buttermilk chicken with mashed potatoes. Tory got the mac & cheese.

We decided against going to the musical performance in the Princess Arena, opting to wander around the ship instead. There’s so many things happening from game shows, live comedy, ballroom dancing, and movies playing on the pool deck.

There’s also formal portrait stations set up all around the ship with photographers offering to take photos of the passengers. Normally, Andi and I would shy away from doing this as that style of photography is not our taste. However, the photos are free with our premier package, so why not? Andi and I got such a kick out of the cheesy poses the photographers arranged for us.

Later, the digital photos were added to our Princess app for download. Oh my gosh, I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time! I’m sure these photos turned out great for people who actually dressed up nicely and wanted formal photos taken, but for us — wearing the same travel tired clothes we’ve been wearing for months and honestly, looking a bit disheviled — it just made us laugh.

Cruising is so fun for our family. I don’t know why we all love it so much as it’s very different than our style of travel. After traveling intensively for months in a row, constantly figuring out logistics, navigating foreign languages, and eating unique foods, it feels like a reprieve to be pampered by such friendly staff, have any and all foods available to us 24/7, have clean showers with unlimited hot water, and to sleep in comfortable beds. We’ve all said, “I love cruising!” about fifty different times the past four days.

Tomorrow, we’ll wake up in Cartagena, Spain.