Day 31 of 35: MSC Day at Sea

Today was a planned day at sea between ports on our cruise. This is our second time on an MSC vessel & we were sadly surprised to find this line does not have the same quality consistency across ships as other lines we’ve traveled on. The last MSC ship we traveled on was amazing. This one is fine but not great. It’s old for a ship, built in 2007, and even though it was refurbished in 2021 it wasn’t really upgraded; just given a cosmetic face-lift. So as one of the crew members said, “It’s (still) a dumb ship” – i.e., without technological upgrades.

On the plus side, the service & core entertainment have been top-notch. The gym is pretty small & the food sadly has only been average. But at least that’s kept our over-eating to a minimum.

Another unusual (to us) feature is that this itinerary doesn’t load & unload all passengers at the same port & the same time. Instead, the ship repeatedly visits the circle of 7 ports, & at each one some guests left & others arrived. Everyone was don’t the same 10-day itinerary, but starting at the port of their choice. We visited 4 different countries, so that meant the predominant language(s) & manners of the ship changed a bit nearly every day. That’s been pretty fascinating to experience.

We had a problem with the cabin air-conditioning one day and they promptly fixed it. As an apology for the problem, they also gave us a free bottle of very tasty sparkling wine & a plate of chocolate- covered strawberries.

I went back to the ship doctor today for a follow-up. There were still some traces of leucocytes that showed up but my function is almost completely normal. She gave me 2 more days of meds, enough to ensure this should be resolved before we fly home. Relief!

I was also able to reach Mom today on the phone. It was a balm to hear each other’s voices after so long. So grateful for our current state of technology!