| I went to The Cotton Club and saw Petronella already waiting. David joined us later. Now questions do come in different languages but they ask at the start who is from which country and cater to them, so it can just be English or French speaking competing against each other. The quiz was about Scandinavian countries and we won! No idea how but guesswork is great. The following quiz was on bar prices but we didn't win that. Someone whose birthday it was did and got a load of goodies compared to our one backpack. The belly dancing lesson was my excuse to make a hasty exit and go for a kip. |
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It was the second Gala Night but, considering what people got away with on the last one, I couldn't be bothered changing. Petronella wouldn't be coming again while Brenda was tipsy from the MSC Club booze up. Shilpa wasn't there either. Rather annoyingly, Rob decided to cause a scene. He blamed David but David stormed off after the first course because he couldn't put up with that crap. It was obvious, for some reason, Ron was spoiling for a fight when he just spoiled dinner. It was the Baked Alaska Parade - with flame! It was quite good actually and the Baked Alaska itself very nice. |
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| I decided to fight the internet and, as I was, Shilpa appeared. She'd fallen asleep, which was understandable with all the early mornings. There was the Buffet Magnifico in La Caravella restaurant which we went to. The spread was amazing and Shilpa had dinner! |
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| We bumped into Rob up by the photo gallery then all went to the casino for a while but not to gamble. Rob does love his smokes and the air wasn't as choking there. Then it was time for bed and wondering if the weather would get any worse. Hope so! I'll say this for Opera, she handles it extremely well. None of the times we've been pitching and rolling was my back aggravated. I'd taken painkillers but so far hadn't needed any. Oh, you do have to stop yourself falling into walls as usual but it's not as bad as some ships. |
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| I had a lie in, since it was a sea day. We were still rocking and rolling pretty good so the weather hadn't abated during the night - excellent! You'd never guess from looking how windy it was. I went onto the aft deck for photos but was getting covered in spray so quickly went back in. |
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| A lazy afternoon until the quiz when we didn't win again. David said he wasn't planning to go to dinner after what happened with Rob then decided he would to show he's the better man. As I was fighting the internet again, Rob found me and told me about how he and David had made it up. Back to the cabin to finish packing. |
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| I know the sign says "Smoking is strongly discouraged" but that's clearly not enforced. So many times I walked from either end of the corridor and could smell it coming from the rooms. So either it's no smoking or not. Dinner and Brenda didn't go, which was a shame since it was the last night. Since whatever I chose would be full of salt, I thought I'd pre-empt them and ordered the salt fish. It wasn't very nice anyway but didn't have a strong taste of it. |
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David and Shilpa went to get some Duty Free and recieved a discount too. I just bought mints and gum but the guy behind the counter gave me a Ferrero Rocher because I didn't get any money off. We bumped into Rob again at the casino and, while we were there, the Captain came in and sat down at a table. He wasn't gambling, just talking to the manager or whatever the woman standing around watching everyone was. Bed after putting the case out. Morning was a very wet and windy Southampton with Oceana behind us insead of being in for 6.30am. As we passed Queen Mary 2, it stopped raining - wooo! Then when Oceana neared Hythe, it started again - booo! No wonder I nicknamed that Jinxy in 2006 - she brings lousy weather! Because we had to be out of the cabins at 8am and she was late, I couldn't watch her dock. As I was about to go in to dry off, Rob attracted my attention from the deck below. |
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| Rob ended up getting in my lift, saying he'd arranged with his cabin steward to stay on until 9.30am. By the time I got to the theatre just after 8am they had already called white, the second colour. I was red, the penultimate, which was called by 8.35am. I certainly hadn't expected them to boot you off so early. Maybe it was down to the immigration onboard the day before for everyone who embarked at IJmuiden, Oslo and Bergen. Apparently, they went to cabins to see those who were suffering seasickness. Rob caught me at baggage reclaim too, so clearly wasn't staying on. |
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Due to the ferry not starting until 10am on a Sunday and the weather being a pain, I got a taxi home after saying goodbye to David, who was waiting for his daughter to collect him, and Brenda who was at the taxi rank. My verdict is a simple one. I loved the ship and cruise. I was really glad I went. Opera is more wonderful to me than she was just visiting for a few hours in 2011 and has joined my list of favourite ships to sail on. The only negative was the food and how badly they handled my dietary requirement. It's because of that I'm reconsidering booking another MSC cruise. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee I wouldn't be getting food full of salt again. It's a shame because I'd love to go on another one. Opera would be my preference because she's ideal to me with her size, space and lots of deck (though crap Promenade deck) but I'd go on any if the itinerary was right, and they do have some I really like I'd have to fly for, which is no fun with hugely swollen and infected feet, caused by too much salt in the food. To see more photos of the ships at our various ports of call, click on the Other Stalking index. |
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