I spent today onboard the ship, resting and trying to catch up on my sleep.
Marseille, France.
After falling asleep around 3 am, I was woken again around 5 am. I waited till 7:30 am before going for breakfast at a restaurant with waiter service. I ordered waffles with fruit and syrup, but they were tiny and cold and didn't improve my mood. The cooked breakfast was excellent. Bacon, sausage links, mushrooms, grilled tomato, hash browns and beans. It was washed with two cups of coffee and followed by some sliced cantaloupe, melon, orange and pineapple.
Breakfast had done its job, and now full and happier, but still tired I went to see the people at reception again to try and move cabins. Once again, my complaint was noted, but I was told I had to wait until this evening to change cabins. Still very tired, I returned to my cabin and managed to get an hour's sleep. I was woken again by workers shifting laundry baskets around, and I got up and took a shower before returning to one of the ship's bars to order a tea. After seeing Marseille on my last cruise and having a cruise booked when I arrive in Barcelona tomorrow I decided to rest my legs and stay onboard the ship today. I saw some people from Los Alcazares drinking, so I sat with them. The American brand of tea was very nice, if a bit cold. Unlike the tea I drink at home, The Long Island Iced Tea was full of ice but very tasty.
At noon, I left my friends and went for lunch. Today, I sat with a companionable man from Finland. I had a sweetcorn soup before having the smallest piece of fish I have ever seen for my main course. It was monkfish. If monkfish had feet, I must have been given its little toe. It was followed up with a beautiful brioche cake filled with vanilla cream. I chatted with my companion, who goes on cruise ships regularly and he tells me that his home town in Finland is where many of the world's biggest cruise ships are built. The cruise ship, Costa Toscana, I went on last year was built there.
After lunch, I return to my cabin, hoping that a note will have been left, telling me I can move cabins. There is nothing there so I go to the Beverly Hills bar for a pint and to write about my trip so far. Amazingly, there is no entertainment on board until this evening, and most bars are closed until at least 5 pm. I didn't expect to be lost for something to do on board.
On my way to dinner this evening, I stopped at the service desk and explained that I was waiting to hear if I could move to a quieter cabin. I was once again asked to go back later. I join some other single English-speaking people for dinner tonight. Helen, a Scottish lady I met at breakfast on day one of the cruise, an elderly lady called Jean and two men, Shaw, an Iranian man, and Bryan, an English man who now lives in Alicante, Spain. For dinner tonight, I have frog legs for my starter before having beef for my main course and limoncello cake as my dessert.
After dinner I return to the service desk to see if they can move me to a new cabin. I am told they have found me a cabin and tell me to sit and wait until someone can take me to view it. About 10 minutes later I am collected and shown to a new cabin to see if it is okay. The cabin I am taken to is two floors above mine on deck 10 and is an outside room. When I am shown the room, it is enormous compared to my current room. It is at least twice the size, has a separate seating area with a large screen TV and has large floor-to-ceiling, sliding patio doors leading to a balcony. The bathroom is much bigger and has a full-size bath and shower instead of a curtained cubicle. I asked the man if this was the right room, explaining that my room was a small inside room. He said that it was correct and said to let reception know if I wanted it.
When I went down to the reception desk, the lady asked me if the room was okay, and I asked her if it was the correct room. She confirmed it was, and I asked her if I had to pay more as I didn't want to have to pay more and she told me there was no charge as it was only a room change. I was pleased I had waited and been polite all day. She asked if I needed help moving my luggage, but I said I could manage. I returned to my old room, packed my case went to my new room and unpacked. I then returned the old room key to reception and noticed that I had sliced my finger on something during the move. I had also twisted my ankle in my rush to switch cabins. I had to get a plaster from the service desk as blood from my finger kept dripping on the counter as I spoke to them. After getting my finger plastered and the room move completed, I went for a pint and sat chatting with Helen, the Scottish lady I had been sitting with at dinner.
After a while, I moved to the Lord Nelson bar and sat with Kaz, Jayne, Darren, Rob, John and Adam for a pint. At 10 pm, they all moved on to the casino, and I went to my room. I pulled open the curtains, climbed into bed and quickly fell asleep, listening to the soothing sounds of the wind and waves on the ship's side.