Sunday, January 25, 2009

Dear MSC Melody

Oh my word.......where does one begin??? I have no words to explain this amazing experience. Sun, sea, zodiac rides, sexy Italian sailors, food, food, food, cocktails, beaches, 5 star treatment, gorgeous sunsets, even more amazing sunrises, dancing until the sun comes up and great company......what more could a girl possibly ask for?? Not much really:)

I'm not going to go into the details of the trip...there is just too much and too little blog space. So, I've decided to tell the story with the help of a couple of pictures. We hardly slept at all the entire time we were on the boat. Opting rather to dance either under the stars or in the club. Luckily, none of our little group of friends suffered from motion sickness.......this obviously enhanced the experience:)

The food was superb! And I swear it felt as if we were eating the whole time. The day started with breakfast buffet, then a "Late risers" buffet, then teatime, then a lunch buffet, then "High tea" and then a 7 course dinner.....which was quite a fancy affair.

Everybody came back weighing ever so slightly more than when we actually went on board......I suppose it could be blamed on the combination of food and cocktails. But that's what new year exercising regimes are for right?

The sailors were mostly Italian and definitely lived up to their reputation....*wink wink*. My "Stolen Kiss" happened to be the "Pilot" of the ship, and was brave enough to smuggle me onto the captain's bridge on the last morning to watch the sunrise from there...it was absolutely amazing!!! And believe it or not, I still chat to him on a regular basis...or whenever he has access to the Internet.

We came back with heavy hearts, tanned bodies and a million pictures and memories. Here are a couple of pictures to wet your appetite:)


And we're off!!!!

Smart Casual Dinner the first evening

On the Portuguese Islands.....gorgeous!

Still on the island...just check how far the cruise ship is....about a 10min zodiac ride

Beautiful sunset after an awesome day on the Island

The girlies on our second night....dinner is a fancy affair y'all!

Deck party!!!!!!!

Still having fun at the deck party:)

We ensured there were enough life boats for everyone

A stolen kiss...........

Sunrise from the Captain's bridge on the morning of our arrival back in Durban

Love

Ruby
xxxxxx

12 comments:

Janine / Being Brazen said...

sounds soooooo wonderful. Love the pics :)

Unknown said...

Poor Italians.

Tamara said...

Wow! Looks like oyu had an amazing time.

Ruby said...

BB - it was...i wanna go back right now!

Glug - what do you mean poor italians??? poor us! we were the one being hit on by a million super hot guys..jeepers..get your priorities straight..LOL

Tamtam - I did....*sigh*.....My sailor recons i should come back...and i quote..."you came nest week"..which for those of you not qualified in italianised english means I most go back next week...he he:)

The Jackson Files said...

WHAT! You went on a cruise. I have toatl cruise envy. (And stolen kisses envy, and Italian sailors envy, and, and and...)

AngelConradie said...

WOW... wow wow wow!!!

Ruby said...

oh Jacks...it really wasn't that awesome, you shouldn't be jealous....erm..ok, who am I trying to kid, I'm a terrible liar...it was friggin awesome!!!

Angel - yep, that about covers it me thinks:)

Carlinn said...

Looks like it was amazing! i so want to go on a cruise ship! We see passing our apartment every evening in summer time here in Malta. :)

Ruby said...

ok, so for a change I'm jealous!

Oh and welcome to my little kingdom:)

Astrid said...

I am curious, we're going on this same cruise next week and trying to determine how much spending money to bring along. Apparently all drinks - including water - is an extra expense which is very expensive. Any tips/advice for a newbie?

Unknown said...

Hi Astrid! thanx for the comment:) yes, the drinks can get very expensive, but if you're smart about it you'll be fine:) Sometimes they have a cocktail of the day, which is much cheaper than the rest of the drinks. Granted, you get kinda sick of it after a while and drinking it all day,but it does save a lot of money:) My total ZAR bill at the end of the day was roughly R950,using an exchange rate of R10,which it was at that time, now at least it's lower:) That included a universal plug i bought for R220 and a couple of pictures i bought. These are very expensive,so don't buy them unless it's one that you def want and it's a precious memory. And we did have quite a lot to drink, both cooldrink, water and alcohol. Hope that helps a little:)

Astrid said...

Thanks for replying. That does help!

I hope we have as great a time as you guys seemed to have - despite the weather predictions looking rocky.