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8 May 2024
Alan Morris on the Costa Diadema cruise ship at Palma de Mallorca..

Today I woke up in the port of Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Today I originally had a full days tour of the island booked but once again when I got back to my room last night the tour had been cancelled. I decided that as I still wasn't feeling brilliant today, that I would stay on board the ship. I had done a tour of Palma Mallorca on my last visit so I didn't think I would miss walking around the town too much. This morning I was able to collect my passport & Spanish identity card back up from the reception area. I collected them both, it was very easy but I still question why they take passengers passports from them.

I didn't feel like eating but I did go down to the Atrium bar for a couple of coffees instead of having breakfast. I watched people leaving for their visit to town for a while & then had a walk around the deck filming Palma from the ship. I decided to find a quiet area of the ship & read my Kindle & sunbathe. I walked up to the top deck & found a quiet area that had no one else there. There was a bar there so I got myself an alcohol-free cocktail & layout on a deck chair reading my Kindle. It was a lovely warm day & I was out of the wind but still got very warm. I ordered another drink & continued to read. I began to dose off in the sun & thought I better go back to my cabin for some sleep.

When I got back to my cabin I took a shower to cool myself off a bit & when I looked in the mirror I realised that I had spent too long sitting in the sun, I had got very sunburnt. I turned the air conditioning in the cabin down to cool me off & then went to bed for an hour or so. Whether it was just the dehydration or whether I had caught some sort of bug I don't know but I had felt very drained & tired since my trip to Civita de Bagnoregio in Italy.

In the afternoon I got up & walked down to the piano bar to listen to the pianist for a while. He was quite good & I was happy just to drink iced peach tea whilst I listened to him playing.

Video from onboard the Costa Diadema whilst in port at Palma Mallorca.

This evening I met Gail for dinner, I was feeling a bit better & was quite hungry after not eating anything else so far today. I ordered creamed cod, flavoured with truffle for my first course. I received veal but as I was very hungry I kept quiet & ate what I had been brought. Gail had ordered the same & she got the cod dish, I think I got lucky with the veal, it was quite nice. For my main course, I ordered veal cheek stewed in Chianti wine, & served over mashed potatoes with rosemary & cherry tomatoes. It was delicious, & probably the best meal I have eaten onboard ship. For dessert, I had Swiss chocolate cake served with chocolate & coffee sauce. This was also very nice, it is a shame that I had to wait all week for the only meal that I really enjoyed.

  View today's menu.

After dinner, Gail & I met Val in the Teadora lounge & we listened to some of the music in the bar. Once again I settled for an alcohol-free cocktail. I was feeling a bit better after eating today but was still very tired & once again I went back to my cabin quite early, I had to pack my case & have it outside my cabin by 11 pm anyway. When I got back to my cabin I packed my case & left it outside before climbing into bed & going straight to sleep.

  View photos from onboard the Costa Diadema.