Cruising Day 3 - At Sea

Day 3- At Sea

What a way to travel!  One thing I hadn’t counted on was the number of Italians on the cruise.  They traveled in families with Mama, Papa, kids, wives, husbands, bambinos in pushchairs, little old grannies etc.  The whole whanau went together and they moved around the ship in packs so that you were often unable to get past them as they gathered together and waited for this one or that one to join them.  And talk about loud!  I can see why the Roman Empire was so successful at taking over the world.

The other thing I hadn’t counted on was the sights on deck.  I was one of a few women who didn’t wear a bikini.  In fact, the pool wasn’t my place of choice.  Everyone was out there sunbathing all day.  Unbelievable!   Obviously there are no worries about skin cancer over here.  The skimpier the bikini or budgie smuggler the better.  And it didn’t matter what size you were.  Or what age.  At times the sights were downright uncomfortable and even unpleasant.  I was astounded that everyone lay out all day in the burning sun.  And I’m talking the Mediterranean in the height of summer, well over 30 degrees daily and not a cloud in the sky.   This aspect of the cruise didn’t suit my skin which burned at the slightest touch of sun.

I sought refuge in cooler places.  Where to go and spend my leisure time?  Perhaps a talk about our upcoming destinations?  Or some Texas Hold’em Poker?  Or what about a ballroom dance class?  Maybe watch the ice dancing spectacular?  Yes to that one!  Or some bingo?  Of course there were also the numerous bars, library, internet café, movies, sports court with organized games at times, mini golf, the pools, maybe some eating if I got hungry, the gym, or a stroll along the promenade shops.  Maybe some ice or inline skating?  Perhaps I could learn scrapbooking or enter the belly flop competition?  Or maybe hit the karaoke?  Or perhaps now’s the time to attend the lecture on detox for health and weight loss?  Rock climbing anyone?  How about a relaxing massage & some beauty treatments?  Or a game of volleyball or soccer or basketball?

There was no end of activities to try.  In fact, most days I didn’t have enough time to do the ones I wanted.  I especially enjoyed the quiet early in the morning and headed down to the sports court for a few shots before the kids got up and commandeered the court.  This suited me as most guests were not early risers.  I met a few others down there and even played some one on one with a young guy from Sweden, beating him until I became exhausted!  Which didn't take long.  But apparently my shooting form isn’t what it should be according to the in-house ‘expert’! 

I was trying to perfect my shot so I could enter the adults’ free throw competition and show up the teenager but ended up missing it due to being somewhere else.  Bugger!  I was hoping to get a gold medal to equal the two he got!  Dodgeball champion & winning basketball team.

A cool drink sitting outside in the shade with a good book from their library was often my activity of choice especially when we cruised past islands.  Many others found refuge in the Casino playing pokies but it’s not my thing.

One of the best buys for us was the unlimited soda fountain which allowed us to have as many soft drinks as we wanted throughout the cruise.  We were given an insulated bottle on arrival as I’d pre-paid for all the extras before sailing.  Whenever we wanted a drink you just handed over your bottle or your sea card which had a coke logo on it and you got a softdrink.  So, all our non-alcoholic drinks were free.  This saved so much money on the trip as a drink was around $4.60-5.18 USD each in the dining room.  I paid $55.55 USD for me and $37.03 USD for the teenager.  Well worth it!  The other good buy (not financially but essential) was the purchase of bottled water.  We got 12 bottles and could have used more as we took at least one each on our excursions plus drank them in our room. 

The cost of using the internet was horrific, around 65c US per minute!  It added up quickly, using a lot of your time before you even logged in due to the slow response.  Laundry also cost a bit but was necessary.  The best tip I had (but unfortunately I didn’t take advantage of it due to the short time between booking and leaving and moving apartments at that time) was to take a round multi peg hanger to use in the shower for your laundry (thanks Karen).  Each time I went into the bathroom I cursed myself for not getting one as I had to unpeg the undies yet again!  Lucky I took your advice about taking pegs or it would have been even more difficult.  On day three they sent me a bag from the laundry for wash and fold for $25US which was much cheaper than the full laundry service which I’d been using for t-shirts & shorts. 

Tonight was our first formal dinner and the captain was available to have photos taken with.  We dressed up as did everyone on board, even to the extent of men wearing tuxedos.  You'll have to excuse my photographer, a fellow diner as she didn't get very good snaps of me descending the glamorous staircase for my formal shot.

Photographers were waiting to snap you as you entered the dining room and I purchased two of our photos.  

Here are photos of the photos.  This one will have pride of place at Mum & Dads.

 The quality isn't that good as it was difficult to get them without my reflection on it.

When viewing the photos I noticed they had a scrapbookers dream, an album with the name of the ship embossed on it plus all the stickers & bits required to do up your cruise scrapbook.  I nearly bought one but, realistically, when would I do it?  I’m having enough trouble spitting out 7 blog entries!

Tonight’s show was a Broadway production “Now and Forever”.  The quality of the entertainment throughout the voyage was excellent with 2 seatings of the main show daily and other entertainment throughout the ship.  Game shows were popular with many events being in Italian.

After a late supper at the Promenade Café with one of my new friends I head to bed ready for another big day tomorrow.

I love the way I find tomorrows schedule on my bed when I arrive back at my cabin.  Also the first of our towel animals!  An elephant.  The steward has been and made the beds, changed our towels and tidied up the room.  He is waiting around to say goodnight.  I could get used to this luxury…