75 December 14, 2014 Tel: +353 (0)66 719 9100 | Email: [email protected] www.felspointhotel.com Subject to availability. Excludes bank holidays and special events 2 Nights DBB from €99 pps 2 Nights Bed & Breakfast, 2 Evening Meals at Morels Restaurant (4 course meal each night), plus discounts to local visitor attractions! Free Car Parking & Wifi Access 3 Nights DBB from €139 pps Enjoy 3 Nights Overnight Accommodation in one of our superior rooms and 3 Evening Meals with complimentary tea / coffee and scones on arrival Quote SUNDAY WORLD to avail of offer For all the latest movie news and reviews, check out facebook.com/ sundayworld1 twitter.com/ Escape ROYAL COUNTY DOWN DATES ernireland.com/irish-open-2015 or check out irishopen.ie IF YOU’RE still frozen after Christmas you can get some winter warmth on the cheap. Lowcostholidays.ie have a few week-long breaks like Malta on January 31, staying at the four-star Solana Hotel, from €165 pp including flights. You’re guaranteed the heat in the Canaries and on the 21st there’s Tenerife and the 3* Hotel DC Xibana Park from €245, Fuerteventura’s Pue- rto Caleta Apartments from €249 on the 30th or Gran Canaria’s 3* Tisalaya Park Apartments for €275 on the 13th. AN IDEAL honey- moon should include the exotic and luxurious. Gohop.ie has a two-centre break with nine nights in the Shandrani Resort in Mauritius, all inclusive, followed by five nights half-board in Dubai at the Sofitel on The Palm for some top shopping with all the wedding cash. The price of €2,525 pp includes all flights, transfers, etc. TEE: View from third hole at the Down golf course MED CRAIC (which left from Salerno) and an island tour of Ibiza. Wanting to sample as many sights as possible, we flew into Genoa, home to 631,000 people, the day before our cruise. We took a 40-minute tour of the city on the Pippo tourist train, which stopped at the house where the legendary Christopher Columbus was born. We also visited Acquario di Genova, the second-largest aquarium in Europe. Dolphins aside, we were suitably impressed by the seafaring facility and its 500 marine species. We set sail from Genoa the next day. We were blown away by just how big, white and shiny our vessel was. The 824-foot MSC Sinfonia consists of 783 cabins, three restaurants, eight bars, a nightclub, a theatre and a casino (and believe it or not that’s actually considered quite small in comparison to the rest of the fleet). Wanting the best of both worlds, we opted for an ocean view cabin which, while more basic than a suite but fancier than a standard room, provided us with bunk beds, a dressing table, television, bathroom and window. Indeed our comfy sea bunker was just like a floating hotel room with us waking up somewhere different each day. One of the nicest yet naughtiest aspects of our cruise and indeed any liner we found has to be the food. All kinds of everything were available at the buffet onboard from curries to pasta to burgers to salad so if, like me, you fancied being healthy one minute and bold the next it wasn’t a problem. We were also assigned to one of the ships two main restaurants on board named Il Covo. There, the happy attitudes of the staff who celebrated Italia with some fine napkin swinging on two nights (yes I’m not sure why but we were waving napkins around over our heads!), music and flowing wine ensured we polished off numerous courses. It would also be a crime not to mention the pizzas on board. Let’s just say they were tastefully cheesy, plentiful and that the ship’s master of pizza ensured we didn’t go hungry! As fairly health conscious people recently turned pizza addicts, Ruth and I were delighted to see the ship offered a fully decked out gym in which we could work up a sweat after a morning of exploring. It also featured a spa called the Aurea, which meant we could pamper ourselves with hair and beauty treatments ahead of the ships many theme nights, two of which were gala evenings and had a formal dress code (which we felt was a really nice touch.) In addition to this, the ship had a Turkish bath, camomile suite and luxurious heated ceramic chairs which allowed us to kick back, relax and gaze out into the ocean. One of the funny things about our cruise had to be the fact that there were so many facilities and so much entertainment onboard that we actually found it difficult to leave! But our seven days on board still saw us embark on excursions to the stunning spots listed on our itinerary each morning. After a few hours sightseeing we would then retire to the ship for a spot of lunch, head to a pool party (they resembled raves that one might experience in Ibiza!) go wining and dining and finish our day off in the ship’s nightclub Pasha, which was absolutely thriving with people of all ages all night every night. Although our ship didn’t have as many restaurants or facilities as bigger liners we found it to be perfectly adequate and immensely enjoyable for what it cost. The little frills approach to our ship meant it was clean, the service was top notch, the food was fabulous and the party atmosphere was unreal. We thoroughly enjoyed our mad week in the Med (which was pretty much guaranteed considering the overnight stay in Ibiza was part of our intinerary!). It was also fantastic to experience people of all H THE 12-ship MSC fleet sails year round across the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. They also have itineraries in South America, Dubai and Southern Africa. Around 1.7 million people are expected to travel on board the MSC liners next year. H The fleet consist of three different classes the Fantasia class (which is the highest) the Musica class and the Lirica class Each ship has different character- istics. The MSC Sinfonia was based around musical legends while the MSC Divina was inspired by superstar Sofia Loren. The MSC Magnifica has its 16 decks named after some of the most famous Italian cities. H All four of MSC’s Lirica class ships are undergoing a makeover before 2015, with sections of nearly 24 metres being built into the middle of the vessels, meaning more facilities and higher capacities. H For more information see www. msccruises.ie or visit your local travel agent. VIEWS: Overlooking the Med and, right, with the captain of MSC Sinfonia TRAVEL FACTS generations and nationalities on board, which resulted in the making of many friendships and memories. Would I cruise again? Certainly! Would I change anything? I would probably try and stay on board longer if I could (we had plans to hide in the ships lower deck which unfortunately went to pot!) Would I have any advice for those interested in sailing the ocean seas? Bring your finest clothes, prepare to mingle and get ready to wave all your worries away. Rebecca Lee