The cruise began properly the morning after our fun night in Savona. We got to have a bit of a lie-in, as we weren't expected to get to the ship until about noon, but the rest of my family had been flown to Milan the day before and had a long bus ride South to fill the morning with. Sad face for them!
We managed to sneak in a bit of a walk in the sun near the hotel, admiring the brightly coloured boats and fabulous yachts before we walked the five minutes over to the port. Thence began a bit of a waiting game - we had expected the rest of the family to show up around noon but they didn't arrive until 1 o'clock! But it was so sweet when they finally did arrive - my little cousins were tumbling over themselves in their excitement and it was smiles all around! With the whole crowd rearing to go, we waiting in line a little longer (sipping pre-cruise G&Ts of course) and then headed onto the boat.
It takes a while to go up the gangway, show all the relevant papers and what not, but we finally entered the ship's reception on the third floor, and were literally blown away by the colours and tacky glamour of it all (in a brilliant way). We trotted off to find our cabins in the maze that was to be our home for the next three days, donned our swimsuits in excited anticipation of the day ahead and immediately found a bar so that we could start enjoying a myriad of free cocktails.
And a myriad it was indeed! Boyfriend and I wasted no time acquiring gin and tonics (which were to become the staple drink of the trip - everyone was a gin enthusiast by the end) and settling on the back deck in the sun. This back deck, on the 9th floor (and conveniently the same floor as our cabin), was to become the Zammit hang-out spot for the next three days. At any point, if looking for a Zammit, you were always guaranteed to find at least one of us there, sipping on our cocktail of choice.
Well, at this point it was time for a late lunch before the much hated evacuation drill took place ( a must nowadays). Lunch time on cruises means open buffet time and we spent all our lunches on this back deck eating plates and plates of pizza, pasta and other Italian goodies. This is one complaint I would have to make about Costa cruise line - whilst the food was very good (see my other blog for descriptions of the meals), it was all Italian and I could have done with a bit more variety in my diet. I would especially have loved some sushi!
So what did we do the rest of that first day? Apart from eating, drinking, evacuation drills, etc, we all went to the top deck to wave goodbye to Savona as the ship raised anchor and set off for Civitavecchia. And a few more cocktails later we had donned our glamorous dresses, trousers, whatever and met for a pre-dinner drink. Our dinner seating time was 9.30pm in the Otto e Mezzo restaurant, and the whole family had three tables set aside near the window so that we could enjoy each other over dinner. The food was fabulous, the conversation hilarious and there's nothing like being at sea to work up an appetite!
We weren't done with dinner until almost 11.30 and we were so not ready for bed yet. So we all trotted off to this ballroom where there was supposed to be some kind of salsa dancing show. What this turned out to be was just a couple of latin songs and then normal music. But it takes a lot more than that to phase us, and as the blokes started on the whiskey and headed to the casino, I grabbed my cousins and we hit the dance floor. The twins were on particular form that night - they didn't go to bed until after 1am and they're only five years old! But they loved the music and the dancing, and they especially loved when me and their dad grabbed their hands and spun them round until their feet lifted off the floor. Word of advice - don't try that in heels - I'm amazed I didn't fall over and I was so dizzy! But eventually people started trotting off to bed, and my mum and I had a nightcap with a couple of the others before eventually heading to bed around 2am. Funnily enough, we found out the next morning that my grandmother had outstayed us all, and was at the slots until past 2.30am! Crazy!
We arrived in Civitavecchia quite early the next morning. Our original plan had been to grab a train and head into Rome for the day - boyfriend has never been and it would have been a great outing. Just our luck though - there was a train strike! There were some options to take a bus in but it would have taken several hours and we just couldn't be bothered (unlike my mum who had to get in there to appease her shopping needs!). So instead, we decided to spend the day on board the cruise ship.
Boyfriend was perfectly happy to sit in the sun all that morning, playing his computer game, but I was keen to get in the jacuzzi with the fam. A whole bunch of us ended up in there for several hours, although my cousin and I got out a couple of times to try out the giant twisty slide. Word of warning -water WILL go up your nose if you do this. But still, it was such a fun morning - I can't remember the last time I got to hang out with my family for so long :D
After we had dried up and dressed again, we spent a pretty chillaxing afternoon enjoying the boat's facilities (by that, I mean bar). We had a long, late lunch in the sun, hit the gin and I eventually passed out and had a snooze around 4pm. Which was great news for my tan (well, I was slightly burnt, but one needs that to get a good base layer so I didn't mind). And I woke up just in time for the family to reconvene on the back deck, to enjoy more pre-dinner drinks before heading off to get ready.
Well, there's no point recounting the rest of the evening, as it was much the same as the first. We had to stop some of the men going overboard at the casino. We ate a lot of food and drank our fair share of wine. At one point a number of us infiltrated the teenager's night club to track down my fourteen year old cousin who had met a girl and needed to be sent to bed (alone!!!) Standard night really ;)
The next day dawned and I woke up shortly after. Although, note to you insomniacs out there - sleeping in an indoor cabin on a boat with no windows really allows for sleeping in. And I love the rocking motion of the ship - it lulls me right to sleep! Unfortunately, when a big ship is rocking it means the sea is rough, and a fair number of my relatives suffer from sea sickness. Awks! That didn't stop me from forging ahead with my day though, and I enjoyed a lovely morning hanging out with my mum, the jacuzzi and our drinks. The best part of that was sitting in the jacuzzi on the side of the boat, watching the view as our ship sailed into Palermo. Fantastic!
After lunch, we decided to finally leave the ship and go on a walk around Palermo. I wasn't that bothered about exploring it too thoroughly, but I was dying for a gelato and thought it would be a good chance for boyfriend to see somewhere new. So we headed off into the hot sunshine and walked around for a while. There wasn't anything to exciting to see to be honest - we meandered through a few shops and stopped for a gelato (nocciola flavoured, of course!) in the main city piazza. We were quite saddened to see that there was some lovely architecture and beautiful buildings in the city centre (the town hall and the theatre for instance), but they were so poorly maintained and looked after. Such a shame!
We didn't stay in Palermo too long and soon headed back to the ship. I was desperate for a quick nap, and I managed to get an hour's kip before my mum phoned me demanding to know where we were and why we weren't on deck drinking with them. So we donned our drinking shoes and went back for (you know it) some gin and tonics. And this is where it got exciting chaps.
Just picture it. Twenty-four feisty maltesers, a couple of drinks in, and suddenly an announcement is made over the ship's intercom. It was quite long and it was in Italian, but nevertheless the pretty crap GCSE in the subject came in handy and I got the gist of it. There was a problem getting to our next stop. Which, by the way, was Malta, and where we were due to disembark. So they are turning the ship around and going to Naples. NAPLES! And may I remind the geographically challenged of you that Naples is the complete opposite direction of Malta! So I'm sure you can imagine that we were NOT happy bunnies!
So a few tantrums were thrown. There was a lot of arguing and a lot of talking over each other. Boyfriend looked scared witless (I think he thought that someone might start throwing gin at someone else). But about an hour later we got to the bottom of things. Yes, we were turning around and going to Naples. But also, yes, we were going to get back to Malta because Costa cruise line were chartering an Air Malta flight from Naples the following day, so all would be well.
You can imagine there was a fair amount of complaining about Costa for the rest of the trip, and that was not helped when we discovered that that night's gala theme was 'White'. Clearly we hadn't been told that, and although we had brought our fancy dresses and suits, none of them were white. In fact, as you can see in the picture below, there was a bit of a trend for the women to wear black dresses. Wish I had known beforehand - I totally stood out in my bright green!
But anyway, the gala night was quite fun. We got dressed up, had some proper photos taken of the whole crowd, and enjoyed a wonderful dinner, topped off with a birthday cake for my grandmother. She was happy, so the rest of us were happy. And then we got happier upstairs in the bar and dance hall (although my grandmother probably didn't, as her luck didn't hold out at the slots!)
And that signalled the end of our last night on the cruise. Of course it wasn't over yet, as we weren't due to set off for our flight until after lunch the next day. So we had a bit of a lie-in that morning, a big breakfast, and spent a bit more time in the jacuzzi. And we still had the open bar to keep us company, which is always handy ;) But all too soon, we had to set off for the airport and I won't bother to describe the rest of the journey, because it was horrendous. Word of advice - never travel with a couple of hundred Maltese people, they will drive you crazy!
And a myriad it was indeed! Boyfriend and I wasted no time acquiring gin and tonics (which were to become the staple drink of the trip - everyone was a gin enthusiast by the end) and settling on the back deck in the sun. This back deck, on the 9th floor (and conveniently the same floor as our cabin), was to become the Zammit hang-out spot for the next three days. At any point, if looking for a Zammit, you were always guaranteed to find at least one of us there, sipping on our cocktail of choice.
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| Zammits on the back deck, in the sun |
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| Ciao Ciao Savona! |
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| Pre Pre Dinner drinkies |
We arrived in Civitavecchia quite early the next morning. Our original plan had been to grab a train and head into Rome for the day - boyfriend has never been and it would have been a great outing. Just our luck though - there was a train strike! There were some options to take a bus in but it would have taken several hours and we just couldn't be bothered (unlike my mum who had to get in there to appease her shopping needs!). So instead, we decided to spend the day on board the cruise ship.
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| Having fun in the jacuzz! |
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| It was warm in there :D |
Well, there's no point recounting the rest of the evening, as it was much the same as the first. We had to stop some of the men going overboard at the casino. We ate a lot of food and drank our fair share of wine. At one point a number of us infiltrated the teenager's night club to track down my fourteen year old cousin who had met a girl and needed to be sent to bed (alone!!!) Standard night really ;)
The next day dawned and I woke up shortly after. Although, note to you insomniacs out there - sleeping in an indoor cabin on a boat with no windows really allows for sleeping in. And I love the rocking motion of the ship - it lulls me right to sleep! Unfortunately, when a big ship is rocking it means the sea is rough, and a fair number of my relatives suffer from sea sickness. Awks! That didn't stop me from forging ahead with my day though, and I enjoyed a lovely morning hanging out with my mum, the jacuzzi and our drinks. The best part of that was sitting in the jacuzzi on the side of the boat, watching the view as our ship sailed into Palermo. Fantastic!
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| Think this sums up the trip nicely |
We didn't stay in Palermo too long and soon headed back to the ship. I was desperate for a quick nap, and I managed to get an hour's kip before my mum phoned me demanding to know where we were and why we weren't on deck drinking with them. So we donned our drinking shoes and went back for (you know it) some gin and tonics. And this is where it got exciting chaps.
Just picture it. Twenty-four feisty maltesers, a couple of drinks in, and suddenly an announcement is made over the ship's intercom. It was quite long and it was in Italian, but nevertheless the pretty crap GCSE in the subject came in handy and I got the gist of it. There was a problem getting to our next stop. Which, by the way, was Malta, and where we were due to disembark. So they are turning the ship around and going to Naples. NAPLES! And may I remind the geographically challenged of you that Naples is the complete opposite direction of Malta! So I'm sure you can imagine that we were NOT happy bunnies!
So a few tantrums were thrown. There was a lot of arguing and a lot of talking over each other. Boyfriend looked scared witless (I think he thought that someone might start throwing gin at someone else). But about an hour later we got to the bottom of things. Yes, we were turning around and going to Naples. But also, yes, we were going to get back to Malta because Costa cruise line were chartering an Air Malta flight from Naples the following day, so all would be well.
You can imagine there was a fair amount of complaining about Costa for the rest of the trip, and that was not helped when we discovered that that night's gala theme was 'White'. Clearly we hadn't been told that, and although we had brought our fancy dresses and suits, none of them were white. In fact, as you can see in the picture below, there was a bit of a trend for the women to wear black dresses. Wish I had known beforehand - I totally stood out in my bright green!
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| The entire Zammit clam, glammed up and rearing to go |
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| A happy Nanna is a happy family :D |
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| Oli's face when he overhears someone joking about stealing one of his chicken nuggets |
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| Sebi's reaction: 'Bitch, think you can take me?" |
Number of G&Ts consumed by the Zammit clan: >200
Number of times Ian Zammit got angry and started yelling at people: 10-15
Amount of money gambled away by the men and my grandmother: > £500
Cities visited not on the itinerary: 1
Amount of fun had: millions (of whatever the unit is)
Next time we will all go on holiday together again: probably never :D
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