I didn't have to go to any classes today, so we got to enjoy a day of leisure. We got up around 10:00 and grabbed a small breakfast, then headed into our port of the day: Corfu, Greece. Corfu is a Greek island and is the most westerly part of the country.
In order to get to the historic part of town, we would have had to pay for an expensive private bus. We elected to just walk around the more residential part of town, which was still very beautiful, as it went along the coast of the island. It was a nice morning.
In the afternoon and evening, we were back on the ship. We went to the on-ship gym first. Then, we tried to play Bingo, but not enough people showed up. We decided to go back to the casino, where Clint won $50 playing Blackjack. We also participated in trivia, and came in first place this time! So we won two magnets. I know, you're envious about the magnets.
In the evenings, the ship always has a party/dance/dinner along a certain theme. Tonight's theme was "ballroom formal," and they offered free dance classes. So everyone got all dressed up, and the menu in the restaurant was very fancy (the menu for dinner changes every night). We decided to start with escargot and lobster bisque. Then we had to decide on our entree, and we told the waiter that we couldn't decide between the roast duck and prime rib. So he said, "No problem -- I'll bring both." BOTH. Two prime rib plates and one duck to share. He also brought us an extra order of escargot because we liked it so much. Note, this entire thing is already included in the price of the cruise, so we didn't have to order based on price. We also got free flutes of champaign!
The service here on the cruise is absolutely amazing. In addition to our awesome waiter, we've had two other truly dedicated staff members helping us. The first is a man named Rodrigo who bar-tends every day in our favorite lounge (there are about 5 different ones). He's super friendly, asks if we like our drinks, offered to get new ones if we don't like them, and chats with us every time we're in there. He can also do the whole "juggling bartender" thing with the bottles.
Finally, there's a man named Jose who cleans our room twice a day. He does everything -- we come back to the room after a couple of hours, and he'll do things like fold our clothes! The entire staff here is truly top-notch.
There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to traveling via cruise, compared to a road trip. We love the amazing service, gourmet food, tons of activities offered, and the ability to truly relax as the ship simply takes us to the next port. There are also some drawbacks. Beyond simply being expensive, we can't decide to stay in a particular place longer. We also share a table with seven other people every time we have dinner in the main dining room, and they're pretty friendly, but we can't really avoid them due to the reserved table. Finally, I have terrible motion sickness. I'm taking two different types of medication for it, but if I don't find the exact balance of food, medicine, etc., I get nauseated. I've felt it a couple of times, but I'm surprised that it's not worse.
My general assessment of the cruise so far is that it's a really fun experience to have at least once. I would consider doing another one, but it is expensive. Both Clint and I have felt most comfortable talking to the staff instead of the other passengers, but that's probably because we aren't particularly fancy. All that said, we're having a really great time. It should be a great week.
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