Location: Valencia, Spain
Summary: I checked out of the hostel, travelled to the port by bus, boarded the Costa Diadema, explored the ship, enjoyed my first meals on board, and ended the day with a theatre show before an early night.
Waking up in Valencia
Today marked the beginning of my Mediterranean cruise aboard the Costa Diadema.
I slept until around 04:00, then got up briefly and fell back asleep until about 8:30. After showering, taking my tablets, and getting ready, I checked out of the hostel in the simplest way imaginable: I dropped my room key into a box by the entrance and walked out.
A café just a few steps away provided my breakfast: a coffee and a tostada at a roadside table. Afterwards, I followed Google Maps to the nearest bus stop for the Trans‑Mediterranean port. The bus arrived within minutes; apparently, they ran every nine minutes, and at €1.50, it was a far better option than the €11 taxi. Google Maps earned its praise.
Cruise Terminal & the Costa Diadema
At the cruise terminal, the check‑in process was quick and efficient. Within twenty minutes, I was on the transfer bus heading to the Costa Diadema. One thing puzzled me: the cruise line took both my passport and my Spanish ID card, promising to return them at the end of the cruise. I still didn’t understand why this was necessary.
Once aboard, I found my cabin easily. It was an inside room, but surprisingly spacious, with a decent bathroom. After unpacking and hanging up my clothes, I headed to the Sunset Bar at the back of the ship for a Piña Colada. As I sat looking out over the port and the Valencia skyline, a huge black cloud of smoke rose from downtown Valencia, thick, dark, and fast. Judging by the colour and speed, I assumed it was a car fire or tyres burning.
After finishing my drink, I wandered the ship to get my bearings, bars, shops, theatres, before going to the Fiorentino restaurant for lunch. Despite being advertised as table service, it turned out to be a buffet with seat‑yourself chaos. Not ideal when juggling plates and hoping your seat was still there when you returned. After lunch, the tiredness from yesterday’s travel caught up with me, and I went back to my cabin for a long sleep.
In the evening, I returned to Fiorentino for dinner and was relieved to find proper table service and a reserved table. Costa seemed determined to run everything through their mobile app, menus, drinks lists, everything. I understood it had started during COVID, but it felt unnecessary now. Not everyone wanted to use their phone at dinner. Still, it did make saving the menus easy.
Dinner was excellent: a seafood salad to start, followed by Bouillabaisse, and then grilled salmon with orange‑scented hollandaise, saffron mashed potatoes, and pan‑sautéed escarole.
Afterwards, I went to the Emerald Theatre for the evening show. There were tables for drinks, but no drink service, so I should have grabbed one beforehand. The show itself was a mix, some genuinely talented singers, others more “pub karaoke” than “professional cruise entertainment.”
With an early excursion to Aix‑en‑Provence the next morning, I returned to my cabin for an early night.
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